Preview: Rockies at Reds

May 27, 2012|Reuters

If 49-year-old Jamie Moyer wants to continue his logic-defying career, heâll have to start getting hitters out. The Colorado Rockies left-hander will try to rebound from his worst start of the season when he faces the Reds in Cincinnati on Sunday. With Drew Pomeranz in Triple A working on his mechanics and two other starters â Jhoulys Chacin and Jorge De La Rosa â on the disabled list, Moyer seems to already be on borrowed time. If he continues his downward spiral, though, that would eliminate the sentimental part of the equation when the tough decision on replacing him must be made.

Moyer will face a first-place Redsâ lineup that crushed Colorado pitching for 12 hits in Saturdayâs 10-3 victory. Cincinnati has won seven of its last eight games and leads the National League Central by 1Â½ games over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Moyer allowed six runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings in a 7-4 loss to the Marlins on Monday. Moyer allowed Giancarlo Stantonâs 435-foot moon shot over Miami â a grand slam which broke the scoreboard â and threw 100 pitches. He has been hit hard in four of his last five starts, allowing 22 runs and 43 hits in 25 innings. His ERA was 2.28 prior to that span. Moyer has faced the Reds nine times and is 2-4. 38-year-old Miguel Cairo is 6-for-26 with a homer against him.

Latos is 3-0 with three no-decisions in his last six starts and hasnât lost since April 18. He allowed two runs, five hits and struck out eight in seven innings, and reached 95 on the radar gun in his final inning of the Redsâ 4-3 victory over Atlanta on Tuesday. Latos is 3-2 with a 3.44 ERA in six career starts against Colorado. The Rockiesâ roster is hitting .232 in 82 at-bats against Latos, with Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki a combined 4-for-25 with eight strikeouts.

WALK-OFFS

1. Moyer, who has 269 career victories, is older than eight managers.

2. Joey Votto has a major league-leading 21 doubles and appears on his way to shattering the Redsâ team record of 51 set by Frank Robinson (1962) and Pete Rose (1978).

3. Tulowitzki is 8-for-20 with two homers, two doubles, eight RBIs and six runs scored in the first five games of the road trip. The Rockies are 2-3.